FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT EAST ROOM - PAGE 5

Saying many Americans are worried that their medical care is suffering as costs are cut, President Clinton named a commission Wednesday to monitor health-care quality and draft a "bill of rights" for consumers Clinton said the 32-member panel must work to make sure dramatic changes in the U.S. health-care industry, especially the trend toward managed care health plans, do not keep professionals from offering the best care to patients. "In this time of transition, many Americans worry that lower costs mean lower quality and less attention to their rights," the president said in an East Room ceremony, with the new members of the commission seated on either side of him. Health advocacy groups generally welcomed the new panel, which included members from business, labor, health-care providers, insurers and consumer groups.

From her townhouse living room in Topeka, Kan., Phyllis Macey ponders the possibility she could have lived in the White House, hosted formal dinners in the State Dining Room, thrown grand dances in the East Room, laid claim to the title once held by Dolley Madison, Eleanor Roosevelt, Jackie Kennedy. Macey hastily rejects the notion. "The thought of being first lady -- no thank you," says the former Mrs. Bob Dole. "I just wouldn't be interested." "I'd hate to be in Elizabeth's shoes," she says of Dole's current, and more famous, wife.

Sharing books, poems and prose can unite Americans and bring out the best in people around the world, First Lady Laura Bush told book lovers Saturday at a celebration of the written word. "A good book is like an unreachable itch: You just can't leave it alone," Bush said as she officially opened the third annual National Book Festival in the East Room of the White House. Library of Congress officials said as many as 60,000 people attended the festival on the National Mall.

Jean Laura Fultz, 77, a longtime Hyde Park resident who relatives said had a wonderful love of the English language, died Oct. 10 at Montgomery Place retirement and nursing home in Chicago. Born and raised in Flossmoor, Mrs. Fultz studied English at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and the University of Chicago. She delighted in reading Russian poetry and other works. Relatives said Mrs. Fultz exercised her literary mind by writing in personal journals. "She enjoyed the sounds of the language, the social perceptions, the social observations," said her son, David.

Dunbar D. Beck, a painter and designer , died of cancer Sunday in a convalescent home. He was 83. His works included mosaics and murals in New York's Rockefeller Center and the World's Fair in New York. He also created gold-leaf paintings with a folk dance theme on the sides of a grand piano in the East Room of the White House. Some of his paintings and portraits hang at Smith College and in churches in Sacramento; Astoria, N.Y.; Germantown, Pa.; and in Texas. During his career, Beck was an art instructor at Yale University, an interior decorator and architectural designer.

The totals for Phoenix Coyotes forward Rick Tocchet in eight days of knee collisions are two opponents injured, two suspensions, seven games missed and about $186,000 in lost salary. The NHL suspended Tocchet for five games Friday because of a kneeing penalty against Detroit's Steve Yzerman in Wednesday's game. "The fact that Mr. Tocchet committed a similar foul and was suspended for two games just a week ago is a factor in this decision," said Brian Burke, the NHL's director of operations.

WASHINGTON — The Obamas feted South Korea's president at a state dinner Thursday, putting on a candlelit party that was an ode to autumn in its flavors, feel and palette. "A fall dinner harvest," they dubbed the evening, held indoors for 225 guests on a rain-soaked night. Notables who turned out included Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg; Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Other boldface names included tennis legend Billie Jean King and Facebook executive Sheryl Kara Sandberg.

The Ingalls Alcoholism Treatment Center of Ingalls Memorial Hospital will present a free program on "Chemical Dependency and the Family" at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. How family members survive with a chemically dependent person and what their roles are in the family will be discussed. The meeting will be held at the East Meeting Room of Ingalls Hospital, 1 Ingalls Dr., Harvey. To discuss problem drinking or chemical dependency, call the 24-hour toll-free number: 1-800-543-6543.

WASHINGTON — The Obamas feted South Korean's president at a state dinner Thursday, putting on a candle-lit party that was an ode to autumn in its flavors, feel and palette. "A fall dinner harvest," they dubbed the dinner, held indoors for 225 guests on a rain-soaked night. Notables who turned out included Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg; Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Other bold-faced names included tennis legend Billie Jean King and Facebook executive Sheryl Kara Sandberg.

As part of his efforts to encourage students to attend college, President Clinton said Wednesday he wants to provide mentors to low-income students to help guide them toward college. The president's budget proposal for 1999 provides $140 million to match mentors with students, and it envisions $70 million more in the year 2000 and in 2001. Clinton said that within five years more than 1 million students would have a "guardian angel" to provide them with information and inspiration to earn a college degree.